Tonsure

Forever you find

your father

in other faces—

a balding head

or beard enough

to send you following

for blocks after

to make sure

you’re wrong, or buying

some stranger a beer

to share. Well, not

just one—and here,

among a world that mends

only the large things,

let the shadow grow

upon your face

till you feel

at home. It’s all

yours, this father

you make

each day, the one

you became when yours

got yanked away.

Take your place between

the men bowed

at the bar, the beer

warming, glowing faint

as a heart: lit

from within & just

a hint bitter.